The Words Of Love
by thewarlockandtheshadowhunter
Summary: AU: The words your soul mate says when you fall in love with them are tattooed on your arm. Scorpius Malfoy is trying to tell Albus something, but the child of the Boy Who Lived is a little distracted. Written for round 13 of the Quidditch Leagues Fanfiction Competition.


**Written for round 13 of the Quidditch Leagues Fanfiction Competition. Additional prompts are history and blissfully. **

**AU: the words your soul mate says when you fall in love with them are tattooed on your arm.**

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><p>The Slytherin common room was blissfully quiet as Albus Potter sat in front of the fire, reading his History of Magic book with little interest or concentration. The subject was too boring for anyone's good and Al was yet to meet someone who really enjoyed the Hogwarts class.<p>

What was more interesting to him, was the words that looked like an intricate tattoo on his wrist which had been there since he was born. Everyone had them of course, the words your soulmate will say when they fall in love with you. 'I'm surprised you ever actually talked to me, considering everything'. The words had puzzled the Slytherin since he could read and he had spent a total of hours over the years trying to figure out what it meant, what kind of soulmate this person might be. Then when he had become a Slytherin, he had wondered if maybe it was a Gryffindor, considering the rivalry between the two houses. That theory had been quickly tossed out the window when he realised that most of his family were in Gryffindor, so him becoming friends and eventually soulmates with a member of that house really wouldn't be so surprising.

He felt the couch dip beside him and a head rest on his shoulder with no greeting. He glanced out the corner of his eyes to see bright platinum hair and smiled faintly, realising that it was Scorpius who had seated himself next to him. He had no idea what words swirled down his arm and had never thought to ask - it was private. Even though the words were clear to see, no one read them without the bearer#s perission that was just...just how things were.

"Why're you reading that? It's Friday night, Al," Scorpius pointed out, sticking out his hand to cover the page of the book closest to him.

"Great observational skills there, Scorp," Albus teased, moving Scorpius' hand off of the page and continuing to read. "Got any other amazing insights you'd like to share?"

He could practically feel Scorp rolling his eyes, could imagine the action perfectly in his head. "Yeah, History of Magic is the most boring subject there is," Scorpius stated as though he was the wisest of men.

Al chuckled, "Whatever. What's up with you?" He asked gently, a faint frown on his face. He didn't know what it was, but something just seemed off with his best friend. Something had been kind of weird for a few weeks, but the dark haired Slytherin had simply put it down to exam revision stress. Not that Scorpius was likely to suffer from that, considering he was one of the highest ranking students in the school, but still everyone suffered from it every once in a while no matter how smart they were.

Scorpius didn't answer for a few moments and Albus didn't know whether he should start worrying or not. He was never this quiet. "I'm glad we became friends," he said finally, confusing Albus even further - where was this coming from? "I mean, I'm surprised you ever actually talked to me, considering everything..." Scorpius may have continued talking, but Al had frozen with shock, everything falling into place.

He was in love with his best friend.

"Yeah, I'm glad we did too," he murmured in response, fighting the urge to look at the words on his wrist. The swirling black lines felt like they were burning him, but he knew that was all in his imagination.

"You didn't hear what I just said, did you?" The other Slytherin asked, with an exasperated yet somehow fond sigh. Albus' mind was a little preoccupied with its realisation he was in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Now that he knew, it felt kind of obvious. Of course he was in love with Scorp, why wouldn't he be?

"No, sorry," he admitted sheepishly, putting down his book as though it were to blame for his lack of attention. "What did you say?"

"I said...I love you." Scorpius sat up, looking at Albus' (shocked) face nervously. "I, uh...I realised a few days ago, I was just too scared to tell you," he admitted, unbuttoning the cuff of his shirt sleeve to reveal his tattoo. Hesitantly, Albus looked down at it - it felt weird to look even though he knew he had permission - and saw words that he had just said a few days previously. 'Scorp, don't worry about it, you'll do great.' He remembered saying them, up in their shared dorm room as Scorp practically tore his hair out as he stressed about exams.

Still looking at Scorpius' tattoo, he unbuttoned his own shirtsleeve and showed the other Slytherin the words he had just said a few moments before.

It was quite comical, how Scorpius' eyes widened as he spotted the tattoo and then looked back up at Albus' face, a small grin on his face. He lunged at the dark haired boy, practically tackling him into a hug and nuzzling into the crook of his neck.

Albus laughed, hugging Scorpius tightly. "I love you too," he replied, somewhat unnecessarily.

Scorpius nodded, the motion tickling his neck. "Good," he mumbled and Albus could feel him smiling.

They sat like that for a while, simply sitting and cuddling each other. Albus couldn't resist the temptation to run his fingers through the other's hair, chuckling as Scorpius started humming contentedly like a purring cat.

"I love you," Scorpius murmured again, sounding as though he was about to drift off to sleep.

"I love you too."


End file.
